Hartford Wolf Pack 3, Hershey Bears 2 (SO)

Hershey, PA, October 25, 2015 – Nick Tarnasky scored twice, and the Hartford Wolf Pack recovered from surrendering a tying goal with 12.1 seconds left in regulation, in a 3-2 shootout win over the Hershey Bears Sunday at Giant Center.

That was the second of back-to-back games between the two clubs, after the Wolf Pack dropped a 3-2 overtime decision in Hershey Saturday night in the first of the pair of battles.

After Jakub Vrana tied the score for the Bears with goaltender Justin Peters on the bench for an extra attacker, Brian Gibbons and Marek Hrivik scored in the shootout, and Wolf Pack goaltender Jeff Malcolm, making his first appearance of the season, stopped two of Hershey’s three shooters.

“At the end of the day we got our two points, so that’s huge for us moving forward,” said Malcolm, who made 24 saves in regulation and overtime. “It was a big weekend, I thought, for us, we battled from start to finish, Friday to Sunday.”

The victory Sunday gave the Wolf Pack five out of a possible six points on the weekend, as Hartford had started the three-games-in-three-days road trip with a 4-3 win at Syracuse Friday night.

Chad Nehring added two assists for the Wolf Pack in the win over the Bears, and Madison Bowey scored the other Hershey goal. Peters made 25 saves in the Bear net.

The two clubs traded goals in the first period, with the Wolf Pack drawing first blood at 9:08 on Tarnasky’s first goal of the season.

Nehring tracked down a loose puck in the Hershey zone, and exchanged with Brady Skjei on the left-wing boards. Skjei broke toward the slot and fed to the other side to Tarnasky, who whipped a low shot past Bear netminder Justin Peters.

The Bears equalized quickly, as Bowey scored his first pro goal at 11:52. Bowey took a pass from Travis Boyd and headed down the left side, before snapping a shot that went off of Malcolm and in.

That is how the score stood for nearly two full periods, before Tarnasky, who had been a scratch for the Wolf Pack’s first five games before contributing an assist in his season debut Saturday night, put the Wolf Pack back on top at 12:44 of the third period.

The Bears’ Riley Barber blocked Ryan Graves’ shot from the center point, but the puck came right back to Graves, who fired again. Peters made the save, but Tarnasky was able to find the rebound and slip it into the net.

The Wolf Pack appeared poised for a regulation win, but Vrana earned the Bears a standings point with a shot from the right circle, one-timing a pass from ex-Wolf Pack Chris Bourque just past Malcolm’s catching glove and into the top corner.

After a scoreless overtime in which the teams split four shots, Bourque was the only one of Hershey’s three shooters to solve Malcolm, and Hrivik got the Wolf Pack the win by snapping a shot past Peters’ stick side on Hartford’s third attempt.

The Wolf Pack, who are now 5-0-1-0 in their last six games since a season-opening loss to St. John’s, wrap up a stretch of four straight road games this Friday night, October 30 with a visit to Wilkes-Barre, PA to take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Faceoff is 7:05 PM, and all of the action of that contest can be heard live on News Radio 1410 WPOP, and on-line at www.newsradio1410.com and iHeartRadio. Video streaming is available at www.ahllive.com.

The Wolf Pack’s next home game is Halloween night, this Saturday, October 31, a 7:30 game vs. the Providence Bruins. Tickets for all 2015-16 Wolf Pack home games are on sale at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.

To speak with a Wolf Pack representative about season or group tickets, or any of the Wolf Pack’s many ticketing options, call (855) 762-6451, or click here to request more info.

Hartford Wolf Pack 3 (SO) at Hershey Bears 2
Sunday, October 25, 2015 – Giant Center

Hartford 1 0 1 0 – 3
Hershey 1 0 1 0 – 2

1st Period-1, Hartford, Tarnasky 1 (Skjei, Nehring), 9:08. 2, Hershey, Bowey 1 (Boyd, Ness), 11:52. Penalties-O’Brien Her (cross-checking), 5:01; Herbert Her (slashing), 12:03.

2nd Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Hrivik Hfd (tripping), 11:40.

3rd Period-3, Hartford, Tarnasky 2 (Graves, Nehring), 12:44. 4, Hershey, Vrana 2 (Bourque, Barber), 19:47. Penalties-Nejezchleb Hfd (boarding), 2:43; Stanton Her (hooking), 5:11.

OT Period- No Scoring. Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Hartford 2 (Tambellini NG, Gibbons G, Hrivik G), Hershey 1 (Vrana NG, Barber NG, Bourque G).
Shots on Goal-Hartford 9-6-10-2-1-28. Hershey 7-10-7-2-0-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 0 / 3; Hershey 0 / 2.
Goalies-Hartford, Malcolm 1-0-0 (26 shots-24 saves). Hershey, Peters 1-1-1 (27 shots-25 saves).
A-9,198
Referees-David Banfield (77), Tom Chmielewski (43).
Linesmen-John Grandt (98), Scott Pomento (25).

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